We’ve mistakenly taken the world’s tallest mammal for granted — fretting far more about other beloved mega-fauna such as rhinos, elephants, and great apes.

But now it seems that all is not well in giraffe-land. Thanks to molecular genetics, we’ve just realised that what we thought was one species of giraffe is in fact four species, divided into various distinctive subspecies. That’s a lot more biodiversity to worry about.

Even more disturbing is that giraffe populations are collapsing. Once roaming widely across Africa’s savannas and woodlands, they now occupy less than half of the real estate they did a century ago.

Even where they still persist, giraffe populations are increasingly sparse and fragmented. Their numbers have fallen by 40 percent in just the last two decades, and they’ve disappeared entirely from seven African countries.

Tall Challenges

Giraffes today are getting hit from all sides. Africa’s population is growing so fast it could quadruple this century. And all those additional people are using lots more land for farming, livestock, and burgeoning cities.

Woodland clearing in the Okavango Delta of Botswana.

Beyond this, Africa has become a feeding ground for foreign corporations, especially big mining firms from China, India, Canada, Australia, and other nations. To export bulk commodities such as iron, copper and aluminium ore, China in particular has gone on a frenzy of road, railway, and port building.

Fueled by the flood of foreign currency, Africa’s infrastructure is booming. For instance, a total of 33 ‘development corridors’ — centered around ambitious highway and rail networks — have been proposed or are under active construction.

'Development corridors' in sub-Saharan Africa, ranked by the conservation importance of habitats that would be impacted by the corridor.

Research led by ALERT director Bill Laurance shows that these projects would total over 53,000 kilometers in length, crisscrossing the continent and opening up vast expanses of remote, biologically rich ecosystems to new development pressures.

In addition, giraffes are plagued by poachers with powerful automatic rifles. As shown in this poignant video, giraffes are commonly killed merely for their tails — which are valued as a status symbol and dowry gift by some African cultures.

Time to Act

The sweeping decline of giraffes reflects wider trends in wildlife populations. A recent report by WWF projects that we could lose two-thirds of all individual birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and fish on Earth by 2020. Species in tropical nations are doing especially poorly.

What are we to do? A critical first step is to help African nations to develop their natural resources and economies in ways that don’t decimate nature.

On the eve of the World Parks Congress in Sydney, Australia, ALERT member James Watson tells us about a hugely important paper he and colleagues published this week in the world-leading journal Nature.

Needs a home: Mountain gorillas now survive in just a few protected areas in East Africa (photo (c) Liana Joseph)

It’s a massive shame. When well administered, protected areas get results. There is abundant evidence that protected areas, when well managed, protect threatened species and often store large quantities of carbon while delivering key ecosystem services, such as clean water and buffering against extreme weather.

Nevertheless, we show today in a paper in Naturethat, while many nations talk the talk on protected-area creation, they often fail to walk the walk when it comes to ensuring these areas have adequate resources and oversight.

A fundamental step-change is needed to align government policies so that Ministries dealing with development, resource extraction, and agriculture don't undermine those concerned with environment and conservation.

At the same time, there's an urgent need to invest in protected areas to ensure their vital goals are achieved, and to identify new protected areas critical to nature conservation -- areas that can be established and maintained with care and imagination.

Achieving these goals on our increasingly crowded planet will not be easy. A nation's progress should be measured not merely by the amount of land it protects, but also by the ecological connectivity of its protected lands and their capacity to sustain biodiversity while producing long-term social and economic benefits.

It's a massive challenge, but failure is not an option. We must succeed -- for the future of nature and for our future as well.

The Tony Abbott government's scheme to carve out 74,000 hectares of Tasmania's World Heritage forest for industrial logging is looking increasingly battered.

Lots of criticisms of the Abbott government plan...

First there was the revelation that the government's proposal was prepared without consulting outside experts at all. This is tantamount to building a brick house without mortar--the whole edifice is likely to be exceedingly weak.

Protected areas are our single best hope for conserving nature. But as the human populace expands, more and more parks are facing a growing array of threats. Are imperiled parks becoming the 'new normal'?

Too many pressures on parks... (photo by William Laurance)

As examples, here's a smattering of recent news about imperiled parks:

- In Thailand, illegal logging is so plaguing another World Heritage site, the Dong Phayayen - Khao Yai Forest Complex, that the IUCN has recommended it be classified as a "World Heritage Site in Danger". The Thai government is now making a belated attempt to combat illegal logging in the park.